The Big Five Podcast

Joining Trudie Mason The Big Five this morning were Lionel Perez, former city councilor and former leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall and political analyst Karim Boulos.

Among the topics discussed on The Big Five

• If you thought Prime Minister Mark Carney was going to immediately strike back at the U.S after President Donald Trump announced new 50 percent tariffs, then you are not going to be happy
• It has officially been 100 days since Christine Fréchette officially became the Premier of Quebec
• The City of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville is offering residents a $100 rebate if they replace gas-powered lawn and garden equipment with electric alternatives

Trudie Mason welcomes in Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil.

• Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants Canada to leverage our most valuable resources to hit back at the U.S. after the White House announced plans for new tariffs this week. 
• The Globe and Mail is reporting this morning that Prime Minister Mark Carney made significant concessions to the United States to secure the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge. 
• It has been a busy 24 hours for the Quebec Liberal Party. They have dropped a candidate for the upcoming election and a former candidate and organizer for party leader Charles Milliard.
• The STM says it spent more than $100,000 cleaning thousands of union stickers that were plastered throughout Montreal's metro stations and buses during labour disputes last year. 

Trudie Mason is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Andrew Caddell, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• The premiers of nine provinces announced that they’re removing major barriers to interprovincial sales of alcohol. While Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette agreed with the deal, she was not one of the premiers who signed it. 
• A new Leger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Association says that over 70 percent of Canadians want to end the expense accounts of former governors general. 
• After being pressured for the past few weeks, the federal government has released details of its revised agreement with the United States on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. 
• A new Leger report says 75 per cent of Canadians think AI use should be disclosed for schoolwork and 61 per cent for work. 
• Two columnists with La Presse last week wrote a dialogue piece exploring whether Montreal is becoming harder to love.

Trudie Mason is joined by Jonathan Kalles, Senior Vice President at Vantage, a Government Relations and Strategic Communications Firm and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom.

• U.S President Donald Trump has announced new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods.
• Premier Christine Fréchette reacted on social media to the new tariffs, calling them unjustified.
• A 24-year-old Montreal man who appeared in viral videos verbally insulting and making misogynistic remarks toward a police officer has been charged with three counts of defamatory libel. 
• Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has apologized after facing criticism for posing in a photo with Israel's ambassador to Canada at the Calgary Stampede. 
• E-scooters and their popularity has grown exponentially over the last few years. However, according to a new Globe and Mail piece by André Picard, riders need clearer and stricter rules in order to keep them safe.

Trudie Mason starts the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Catherine Hogan, high school teacher at Westwood Senior High in Hudson.

• The Quebec government officially announced its plans for the interior renovation of Olympic stadium.
• It has been Christmas in July for many in Quebec for the past few weeks as Premier Christine Fréchette has been announcing multiple differents investments in the tune of millions of dollars.
• A new Journal de Montréal report says three major Quebec companies have recently appointed CEOs who do not speak French. 
• The REM suffered a major disruption once again on Friday. A power failure forced one train to stop between stations, prompting passengers to evacuate and walk along the tracks under the supervision of emergency crews. 

Trudie Mason is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• The Quebec government has given the green light for the interior renovations of the  Olympic Stadium
• U.S President Donald Trump held a national address yesterday and immediately took aim at his loss in the 2020 presidential election
• The debate over the Gordie Howe International Bridge agreement is intensifying after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to release the full details of the deal with the United States
• The city of Montreal is using its special provincial planning powers to fast-track approval of a 700-unit housing project, bypassing some of the city's usual approval process
• Four years after being forced to leave China, CBC/Radio-Canada has announced the return of journalists on a permanent basis to Beijing

Trudie Mason is joined by Lionel Perez, Former city councilor and former leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall, and Andrew Caddell, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy,

• A new report shows that Canadians trust China more than the U.S. The report from Pew Research says that 44 percent of Canadians have a favorable view of China. 
• All this week, the Journal de Montreal has been compiling testimonies from drivers about their experience regarding traffic in Montreal. 
• The federal government is making changes to reduce the amount of immigrants coming into Canada. 
• Montreal Public Health has issued an overdose alert after a sharp rise in suspected overdoses linked to a highly toxic drug supply. 
• Turns out even if a company is losing an extreme amount of money, there is still enough in the system to give high ranking executives performance pays.

Trudie Mason is joined by Sue Smith, a Montreal journalist and broadcaster, and Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil.

• Premier Christine Fréchette has decided to join the other leaders and promise to hold a summit on homelessness in 2027 if she is re-elected.
• Speaking of Fréchette, it seems she and other candidates for the party have decided to leave François Legault’s name and history in the past. 
• Turns out Hydro-Quebec is selling electricity to the U.S at a cheaper price than what it sells here.
• The U.K government has announced that a nighttime curfew between midnight and 6 a.m. on social media for 16- and 17-year-olds will be enforced in order to help with its social media ban for kids under the age of 16. 
• The Société du parc Jean-Drapeau has decided that puzzle enthusiasts will not be able to excavate the treasure that may have been buried by American author Byron Preiss in Montreal in 1981. 

Trudie Mason is joined by Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• Notre-Dame Street East has been named the worst street in Montreal by CAA-Quebec.
• Montreal is giving automated pothole filling another try. The city has just launched a new call for tenders to replace its decommissioned machines. 
• For the second month in a row, Canadians have increased their travels to the U.S.
• Have you ever used Artificial Intelligence to self diagnose yourself when you felt like something was wrong?

Trudie Mason welcomes in Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS.

• A new report by Ipsos in coordination with MNP reveals that over half of Quebecers have at least half of their income already committed to bills, debt payments and regular expenses before it arrives.
• The state of New York is proposing to give a 10 percent discount to shoppers who use the self-checkout at grocery stores.
• A new report shows that Montrealers spent 63 hours in traffic last year.
• The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is angry with the Quebec government because of the SAQ’s current business model.
• The Carolina Hurricanes have officially engraved their names onto the Stanley Cup and some names have caused a lot of reaction.